Corals dying and dinoflagellate problem!

[Dark_Knightt]

ah okay i actually have some chemiclean that I never ended up opening, I just don't want to throw in any many treatments and stress the corals even more is all.

Chemiclean is just powdered bacteria, so it wouldnt hurt.

 

[Joeush123]

Double check your No3 test against another test or a reference solution. I had a similar issue recently when dosing and found my No3 test was bad and I had overdosed the tank on No3.


But I did have success knocking down the Dinos with the "Dirty method" I back my water changes down to once a month, did not clean the glass, and dosed phyto from IPSF. My Dino are nearly completely gone now and things are rebounding nicely.

I've it tested on a hanna checker and two normal test kits as well and all where reading low, I've managed to get it up slightly now though. I only really do water changes when I want to clean up the algae too as triton said water changes are not needed when using there dosing solution.

 

[Joeush123]

The whole point of "the dirty method" of dino treatment isn't that the extra nitrate some how kills the dino, its that the extra nutrient (in all forms of N - ammonia, aminos, nitrates, dissolved organics) help promote a more diverse biome that increases nutrient competition to keep everything including dinos balanced.

Are you running any kind of sterilizing setup, like UV, or any other chemical treatment "miracle bottles" thats designed to "kill something"? If so thats actually counter productive to using the "dirty method" for dino treatment.

A 5 year old tank should be mature already, but the low N high P ( po4 seem too high at 70ppb) seem to suggest otherwise. Often this is the result of an imbalance in the N to P consumption rate as corals and algae are mainly high N consumers while things that contribute to biodiversity and stability (signs of mature tank) like bacteria, copapods, worms, and filterfeeders, are high P consumers.

A tank that has depended on excessive external controls - ie, gfo, bottled "algae cleaner dosers", uv, etc, has a harder time reaching natural equilibrium and tend to have these imbalance issues more often.

Feeding phyto will be good as these are the most nature foods for corals. Phytos also have N to P of 16:1 while corals absorb approximately 20:1 so you will still have high P unless better P absorbing biome is established. Would also consider dosing amino as thats all N, to help better match N to P input with N to P consumption in your tank

The tank has been fine for years up until this past month or so when things seem to have deteriorated I do not use a UV sterilizer the only filtration I use are rowaphos and carbon and i do not use any miracle bottles although someone did recommend me to try use the vibrant liquid.

 

[Joeush123]

Chemiclean is just powdered bacteria, so it wouldnt hurt.

ah okay I may try it then thank you

 

[shred5]

ah okay i actually have some chemiclean that I never ended up opening, I just don't want to throw in any many treatments and stress the corals even more is all.

Chemiclean is a antibiotic and would not work on dinos. Chemiclean work on cycano and would have no affect on a algae.

 

[shred5]

Chemiclean is just powdered bacteria, so it wouldnt hurt.

No it is not, it actually kills bacteria. Bacteria is one way to fight dinos so it would have opposite affect.
It kills bacteria and that is why it works on Cyno. Might be you are confusing cyano and dinos and had cyano instead.

 

[Joeush123]

No it is not, it actually kills bacteria. Bacteria is one way to fight dinos so it would have opposite affect.
It kills bacteria and that is why it works on Cyno. Might be you are confusing cyano and dinos and had cyano instead.

ah okay makes sense thank you

 

[Super Fly]

puzzling why there r dino even though test shows nutrient levels, however here's a long thread discussing how to defeat Dino.

Dinoflagellates – Are You Tired Of Battling Altogether?

I don't know what percentage of folks had luck battling dinos with any of the methods in the old Dino thread but it's obviously a very low percentage, so I'd like refresh folks on the natural alternatives and lay out three areas of info: some of the factors that contribute to a dino outbreak...

www.reef2reef.com

I'd maybe give@TheDuude 's suggestion a try

Double check your No3 test against another test or a reference solution. I had a similar issue recently when dosing and found my No3 test was bad and I had overdosed the tank on No3.


But I did have success knocking down the Dinos with the "Dirty method" I back my water changes down to once a month, did not clean the glass, and dosed phyto from IPSF. My Dino are nearly completely gone now and things are rebounding nicely.

 

[BoneDoc]

The tank has been fine for years up until this past month or so when things seem to have deteriorated I do not use a UV sterilizer the only filtration I use are rowaphos and carbon and i do not use any miracle bottles although someone did recommend me to try use the vibrant liquid.

Anything you did differently the past month / two? Have you always been Using rowaphos and carbon?

 

[Uncle99]

How about a pic, so we can visualize what your expericing?